ACM SRC

ACM Student Research Competition at ICSE 2017

Following the tradition of past years, ICSE 2017 will host an ACM Student Research Competition (SRC), sponsored by Microsoft Research. This competition offers undergraduate and graduate students a unique opportunity to experience the research world, present their research results, and compete for prizes.

The ACM SRC at ICSE 2017 consists of three parts:

(1) research abstract submission,

(2) poster presentation, and

(3) research talk.

The winners of the competition will be invited to participate in the ACM Student Research Competition Grand Finals. Participate in the competition! Submit your work to the ACM Student Research Competition at ICSE 2017. You will also be entitled to win a travel stipend to attend the ICSE conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina!

How to participate: Submit a Research Abstract

To enroll in the competition, you should submit a 2-page research abstract related to the main ICSE themes. The submission should describe: the research problem and motivation, background and related work, the intended solution approach and its uniqueness, results, and contributions. Papers will be judged based on how well they cover these aspects of the work.

The research abstract must conform at time of submission to the ICSE 2017 formatting and submission instructions, and must not exceed 2 pages, including all text, appendices, and figures. However, please note that, references do not count against the page limit. The list of references may expand into a 3rd page. The 3rd page, if present, should contain nothing except references. All submissions must be in English and should be submitted in PDF format.

Papers must be submitted electronically by January 6, 2017. The submission site is: Log in to EasyChair for icse17src. A panel of experts will review the submissions and select the students to participate in the Student Research Competition, which will be held at ICSE 2017 in Buenos Aires. Accepted submissions will be published in the conference companion proceedings. The official publication date of the ICSE 2017 Companion Proceedings is the date the proceedings are made available in the ACM Digital Library. This date may be up to two weeks prior to the first day of the conference. The official publication date affects the deadline for any patent filings related to published work.

Coverage of Expenses

Students who are selected to participate in the main competition at the ICSE conference round are entitled to a stipend partially covering their travel expenses. Specifically, ACM’s SRC program covers expenses up to $500 for all students invited.
These expenses can include:

All the students are also encouraged to apply to the SIGSOFT CAPS-UG program for additional support.

First Round Competition: Poster Presentation

The first round of the competition will take place in Buenos Aires at ICSE 2017 and will be a poster session. This is your opportunity to present your research to conference attendees and leading experts in the software engineering fields, including the SRC committee. Judges will review the posters and speak to participants about their research. The judges will evaluate the research (quality, novelty, and significance) and the presentation of the research (poster, discussion) and select students to advance to the second round of the competition.

Second Round Competition: Research Talk

Selected students will give a short presentation of their research before a panel of judges in a special session at the ICSE 2017 conference. After each presentation, there will be a brief question and answer session.
Evaluations are based on the presenter's knowledge of his/her research area, contribution of the research, and the quality of the oral and visual presentation. Three winners will be chosen in each category, undergraduate and graduate, and receive prizes. The winners from the SRC held at ICSE 2017 will be invited to participate in the SRC Grand Finals.

SRC Grand Finals

All winners from the ICSE 2017 competition will advance to the SRC Grand Finals. A different panel of judges evaluates the winners of all SRCs held during the calendar year against each other via the web. Three undergraduates and three graduates will be chosen as the SRC Grand Finals winners. They are invited, along with their advisors, to the annual ACM Awards Banquet, where they receive formal recognition.

Prizes

The top three winners in each category (undergraduate and graduate) will be recognized during the conference. The winners of the ICSE SRC are also invited to compete with winners from other conferences in the ACM Student Research Competition Grand Finals.

Requirements

Participants must be undergraduate or graduate students pursuing an academic degree at the time of initial submission. Participants must be current student members of the ACM, and must provide their ACM member number. Supervisors of the work may not be listed as co-authors; you must submit a single-authored version of your work for the competition.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I am a PhD student. Am I eligible to participate in the SRC?

Yes. As a PhD student, you will compete in the Graduate category of the competition.

Q: What should be part of the research abstract?

A submission to the competition should describe recently completed or ongoing student research related to the topics covered by ICSE. It is important that your research abstract discusses (1) research problem and motivation, (2) background and related work, (3) approach and uniqueness, and (4) results and contributions. The committee will assess your research abstract along these dimensions.

Q: Based on what criteria will judges evaluate the abstract/research?

The judges will assess research abstracts based on four criteria: Problem and motivation, Background and related work, Approach and uniqueness, and Results and contribution. For the poster presentation, the criteria are Oral presentation, Visual presentation, Research methods, and Significance of contribution. For the conference presentation, the criteria are Knowledge of research area, Contribution of research, and Presentation.

Q: I noticed that first round participants receive a travel reimbursement of up to $500. Will the participants also qualify for a registration waiver and/or free/discounted student lodging?

There is no registration waiver and no free/discounted student lodging for first round participants of the SRC. Students will still have to pay for conference registration and lodging, for which they can use the travel stipend. However, there are additional programs to help students keep the cost down (the programs can be combined with SRC). Consider applying as a student volunteer.

SIGSOFT has a great travel support program for students: SIGSOFT CAPS.

Q: My research is not related to software engineering or any of the main themes of the ICSE conference. Can I still participate in the Student Research Competition?

Yes, but not at ICSE. Participate in a SRC at conference that is related to your research. To participate in the competition at ICSE, your research needs to be related to the main themes of the ICSE conference (see the topics for the Technical Research Track). If your research is not among the topics relevant for ICSE, please check http://src.acm.org/ to find a conference that is better related. If you don't find a conference that covers your research, you can participate in the SRC competition at the SIGCSE conference.